Jamie Whincup
Jamie Whincup (born 6 Feb 1983) is an Australian V8 Supercar driver who currently drives the #1 Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore. He has won the championship four times, and has also won Bathurst four times. V8 Supercar career Whincup debuted in the V8 Supercar series in 2002, driving for Garry Rogers Motorsport in the endurance events at Queensland Raceway and Bathurst. Whincup partnered with Sprintcar and Australian NASCAR driver Max Dumesny for the Queensland 500 and Formula Holden driver Mark Noske for the Bathurst 1000. Whincup and Dumesny finished 20th, but Whincup and Noske DNF'd at Bathurst. Whincup joined GRM full-time in 2003, driving the #33 Commodore. He placed 27th in the championship. He was not re-signed by Rogers for another year, and was forced to only compete in the endurance events. He joined Rod Nash Racing in their Perkins Engineering-prepared #7 Holden VX Commodore and paired up with Alex Davison. The pair did not finish the Sandown 500, but later placed 9th at Bathurst. Whincup was signed by Tasman Motorsport the following year in the #23 Holden VZ Commodore. He placed 16th in the championship after some stunning performances, including 4th at the Shanghai International Circuit, 3rd Sandown, and 2nd at Bathurst (with team-mate Jason Richards)). He was then picked up by new team Triple Eight Race Engineering in 2006 to replace Steve Ellery in the #88 Ford BA Falcon. This also meant that he became team-mates with veteran racer Craig Lowndes, and the pair teamed up for the endurance events, finishing 1st at the Bathurst 1000. However, after some accidents and reliability problems, Whincup ultimately finished 10th in the championship. Whincup and Lowndes won Bathurst again the following year. Whincup remained in contention for the title the whole year long, but eventually lost to HSV Dealer Team driver Garth Tander by a measly two points. Whincup began the year strongly in 2007, finishing first at a very wet Winton Motor Raceway, and backed it up by winning both endurance events with Lowndes. But again, he finished second in the championship, this time to Tander's team-mate Rick Kelly. However, Whincup was awarded the Barry Sheene Medal for being "best and fairest" driver of the season. Whincup finally clinched his first championship in 2008, after winning six rounds (including the Bathurst 1000), and was again awarded the Barry Sheene Medal. He successfully defended his title in 2009 in a new Ford FG Falcon, winning eight rounds. This meant that Whincup became the first back-to-back championship winner since Marcos Ambrose in 2003-2004. However, the team had bad luck in the endurance events. The Triple Eight team switched from Ford to Holden in 2010. Whincup won the first four rounds of the season, and was looking good to clinch his third title in a row. However, wet weather at the final race of the season, the Sydney 500 caused both he and title contender James Courtney to crash out, which led to a furious race in the pits to get the cars repaired. Courtney got out first and won the championship from Whincup in 2nd. Whincup regained the title from Courtney in 2011, after battling team-mate Lowndes all season. Whincup has won Bathurst four times during his period with Triple Eight, three times with Lowndes, and once with Paul Dumbrell under the new co-driver rule, which was introduced before the 2010 season. Jamie Whincup.jpg|Jamie Whincup at a press conference, Phillip Island 2007. Jamie Whincup Ipswich 2011.jpg|The #88 Holden VE Commodore of Jamie Whincup at Ipswich, 2011. Holden VE Commodore of Jamie Whincup 2012.JPG|Jamie Whincup's Holden VE Commodore at the Clipsal 500, 2012. Bathurst2012.jpg|Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell celebrate victory in the Bathurst 1000 in 2012. Results Endurance events only *2002: Garry Rogers Motorsport #35 Holden VX Commodore - 20th at Queensland (with Max Dumesny), DNF at Bathurst (with Mark Noske) *2004: Perkins Engineering/Rod Nash Racing #7 Holden VX Commodore - DNF at Sandown, 9th at Bathurst (with Alex Davison) Full-time *2003: Garry Rogers Motorsport #33 Holden VX/VY Commodore - 27th in championship (906 points) *2005: Tasman Motorsport #23 Holden VZ Commodore - 16th in championship (1307 points) *2006: Triple Eight Race Engineering #88 Ford BA Falcon - 10th in championship (2357 points) *2007: Triple Eight Race Engineering #88 Ford BF Falcon - 2nd in championship (623 points) *2008: Triple Eight Race Engineering #88 Ford BF Falcon - 1st in championship (3332 points) *2009: Triple Eight Race Engineering #1 Ford FG Falcon - 1st in championship (3349 points) *2010: Triple Eight Race Engineering #1 Holden VE Commodore - 2nd in championship (2990 points) *2011: Triple Eight Race Engineering #88 Holden VE Commodore - 1st in championship (3168 points) *2012: Triple Eight Race Engineering #1 Holden VE Commodore - 1st in championship (3861 points) Category:Full-time drivers Category:Drivers